The work done by charities in Bermuda requires skilled, trained experts, who deserve to be paid for the services they provide. Many charities operate through the activities of their staff, with little extra material expenses . Think of emotional care or the culling of invasive plants; these activities require hard work but little else. This means that salaries must represent the bulk of the expenses of charities that do these services.

Charitable organisations do have overheads, which is something many people forget. This is especially true if they are providing professional services and/or have premises to maintain. Apart from salaries there is rent, utilities, maintenance, IT equipment, cleaning, security services, regulatory/legal/accounting fees, paper for printers etc. A multitude of mundane expenses, all of which cost money.

In addition some organisations, in order to service their demographic, may need professional staff. If they cannot attract and retain the quality of staff they need, they cannot meet the functions of the organisation. It is not feasible to run those type of organisations on a volunteer staffing basis – if indeed you could even find suitably qualified volunteers.

The donor community, particularly large corporate donors demand a high degree of transparency of the accounts of those organisations to whom they donate. In many cases, if they are repeat donors, they request itemisation of the use of the funds. The charities commission is also now enforcing more rigid requirements in terms of reporting.

While it true that there are organisations that may perform similar functions and that synergies may be possible with some, I do not think it is fair that blanket statements can or should be made about ‘executive salaries’ and improper use of funds. If you have reservations about an organisation that you wish to donate to, check their status with the charities commission.

In reality, there are many charities in Bermuda are providing essential services and in some cases, struggling to do so because people do not understand that there are costs that may not be immediately apparent.

Now, how about before we slam the government for not taking out loans to fund these struggling charities, we recall why you are now having to ask the government for money: the big donors have left the island! I won’t get into WHY they have left as we all know the answer. The issue is that charities got pretty comfortable when the big spenders were here to front some of their overhead. Maybe they rented a pricier office space, maybe they gave raises and bonuses that they might not have otherwise afforded…. Well times have changed and we must all adapt. Notice I didn’t say “tighten our belts?” That’s because we must do something more significant than just cutting costs. Charities need to PHYSICALLY ADAPT to their new environment. Getting handouts is not adapting. Adapting is reducing hours of non key employees, reducing the work week, reduce the number of hours the charity is open for business, working from home offices, instituting a sliding fee for services… Asking government for money or turning the lights out when not using them isn’t going to cut it in our new environment. We need to ADAPT to our new environment. Quit expecting money to fall into your hands – adapt to not having as much and get on with it.

In fact I’d go so far as to say, a more efficient charity delivers a better service and meets more needs of those who are the ultimate beneficiaries.

To dismiss overheads as it is what it is, when charities can pool resources and provide a better and bigger product to those in need is of benefit to all of Bermuda.

I don’t think the article grasps what folks are suggesting. See the bigger picture.